JOE'S PUB LIVE! Programming Through Saturday, May 16 to Include Alan Cumming and More

Joe's Pub, a program of The Public Theater, continues Joe's Pub LIVE!, its free series of live-streamed and archived performances from their iconic stage in New York City. Designed to facilitate social connection during this time of physical distancing, Joe's Pub will share events with audiences worldwide each Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8PM Eastern.

This week's schedule of performances will feature a poetic meditation of political and social reform in the form of Carl Hancock Rux's Rux Revised on Thursday, April 23 at 8PM; prolific songwriter and Public Theater Artist in Residence Shaina Taub on Friday, April 24 at 8PM; and a fusion of music, dance, theater, and fashion with The Illustrious Blacks' HYPERBOLIC! on Saturday, April 25 at 8PM.

Beyond this week, other confirmed shows include storyteller and provocateur for hire Alan Cumming's Legal Immigrant on Thursday, April 30 at 8PM; the 2020 Vanguard Gala Honoring Laurie Anderson on Friday, May 1 at 8PM; a concert from international ukulele virtuoso and songwriter Taimane on Saturday, May 2 at 8PM; a joyfully eclectic set from Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shazad Ismaily Trio on Thursday, May 7 at 8PM; a night of song celebrating a myriad of love's forms with Martha Redbone on Friday, May 8 at 8PM; Cheeyang & Khiyon: EASTBOUND, a new bilingual musical, on Saturday, May 9 at 8PM; an evening of intimate and personal compositions by Samora Pinderhughes on Thursday, May 14 at 8PM; The Hot Sardines performing lively updates of jazz standards on Friday, May 15 at 8PM; and an exploration on themes of human trafficking with Stephanie Chou's Comfort Girls on Saturday, May 16 at 8PM.

Carl Hancock Rux: RUX REVISED

Thursday, April 23 at 8:00PM
Access to this stream will bea??FREE and available to all on YouTube

Rux Revised is a celebration of Carl Hancock Rux's inaugural performance at Joe's Pub-a live recording (for the CD History & Memory), a poetic meditation of political and social reform pairing new and selected poem songs with improvisational classical electronic music. Rux is joined by Will Calhoun (sampling, Korg Waverdrum, guitar pedals, Mandala Drum), Chris Eddleton (upright drum), Hamilton "Fitz" Kirby (electronic samples), Daniel Bernard Roumain (violin), and Mimi Jones (bass).

Recorded live at Joe's Pub on April 19, 2019.

Shaina Taub

Friday, April 24 at 8:00PM
Access to this stream will bea??FREE and available to all on YouTube

This performance by songwriter/performer Shaina Taub was captured during her (almost) monthly concert residency at Joe's Pub. Each show was a creative laboratory as she and her band debuted new songs, plus lots of selections from Old Hats and Visitors, and special guests joined along the way.

Recorded live at Joe's Pub on November 12, 2018.

THE ILLUSTRIOUS BLACKS: HYPERBOLIC!

Saturday, April 25 at 8:00PM
Access to this stream will bea??FREE and available to all on YouTube

The Illustrious Blacks have arrived to save the world one beat at a time!

Once upon a time in a galaxy not far away, there lived two kings. Each was the ruler of his own deliciously glorious planet. The first king, Manchildblack, was well known throughout the cosmos for his ethereal vocals, celestial sonics, and earthy musical messages. The other king, Monstah Black, was a star in the solar system for his gravity defying performances, gender bending fashions, and spacey disposition. One magical night, an inexplicable ultra-magnetic pull forced the two planets to collide. A technicolored explosion occurred, turning night into day, with a feast of aural and visual delights. It was then that the universe was changed forever. Manchildblack and Monstah Black united and became The Illustrious Blacks!

The acclaimed duo fuse music, dance, theater, and fashion as the main ingredients to expand minds, shake bootys, and encourage all to be bold, be brave, and be you! #LiveTheHypeLife

Recorded live at Joe's Pub on September 20 & November 15, 2018.

Alan Cumming: LEGAL IMMIGRANT

Thursday, April 30 at 8:00PM
Access to this stream will bea??FREE and available to all on YouTube

Alan Cumming has been described by Time Magazine as one of the most fun people in show business, by The New York Times as a "bawdy, countercultural sprite," and by The Guardian as "European, weird, and sexually ambiguous."

He has won over 30 awards for his humanitarianism and social activism, received both the Great Scot and Icon of Scotland awards from his homeland, and was made an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) for his contributions to the arts and LBGT equality by the Queen, whose portrait was taken down when his was unveiled at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2014!

Alan Cumming is many things to many people - renaissance man, style icon, social activist, bon viveur - but to himself he is a storyteller and provocateur for hire.

He lives in New York City and Edinburgh with his husband, illustrator Grant Shaffer, and their dogs, Jerry and Lala.

Recorded live at Joe's Pub on June 30, 2018.

2020 VANGUARD GALA HONORING Laurie Anderson

Friday, May 1 at 8:00PM
Access to this stream will bea??FREE and available to all on YouTube

The Vanguard Award & Residency is an award and yearlong residency that celebrates the career of a singular artist who has contributed to American Life and pop culture and is part of the Joe's Pub family of artists. This artist also sustains and leads their own artistic community while creating a body of work that stands apart from their peers. Additionally, the award helps to close the music industry's widening gaps in funding.

Join us for a special performance in Joe's Pub celebrating Laurie Anderson with a slate of artists and friends, with music direction by Shara Nova (of My Brightest Diamond) and Chris Bruce leading and all-star band featuring Meshell Ndegeocello, Daniel Mintseris, Jack DeBoe, and performances from (in order of appearance):

Lafcadio Cass

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Starr Busby with Stuart Bogie, Alex Koi & Colin Stetson - "From the Air"

Carl Hancock Rux - "The Puppet Motel"

Shara Nova with Stuart Bogie & Colin Stetson - "Beautiful Red Dress"

Theo Bleckmann - "Falling"

Alex Koi - "Gravity's Angel"

Theo Bleckmann & Helga Davis - "Walking and Falling"

Colin Stetson & DM Stith - "Fear of the Unknown and the Blazing Sun"

Nona Hendryx with Kiki Hawkins, Asa Lovechild & Alex Sopp - "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)"

Christina Courtin - "Flow"

Meg Harper directed by Derrick Belcham (film) with My Brightest Diamond - "The Beginning of Memory"

Joan as Police Woman - "Blue Lagoon"

Morley Shanti Kamen - "Only An Expert"

Justin Hicks - "Nothing Left but Their Names"

mmeadows (Kristin Slipp & Cole Kamen-Green) - "Walk the Dog"

Meshell Ndegeocello - "O Superman"

Theo Bleckmann & Nona Hendryx - "In Our Sleep"

Gala Co-Chairs: Eric Ellenbogen & Dominic Ramos-Ruiz, Alicia Hall Moran, Megan Mullally, and Nick Offerman

Benefit Committee: David Bither, Jolean & David Breger, Linda Brumbach, Dr. Nadine Chang, Jeff Gates & Mike Moran, Bob Hurwitz, Joe Hall & Martin Dagata, Gary Lippman & Vera Szombathelyi, and Eileen O'Kane Kornreich

Recorded live at Joe's Pub on February 3, 2020.

TAIMANE

Saturday, May 2 at 8:00PM
Access to this stream will bea??FREE and available to all on YouTube

International ukulele virtuoso and songwriter Taimane returned in January of 2019 following her Joe's Pub debut the previous fall. Since that time, Taimane has continued to build momentum by filling venues from coast to coast, performing to a crowd of over 20,000 at The Staples Center in Los Angeles, and releasing a new album, Elemental, which illuminates her maturation into a complete artist - songwriter, virtuoso, singer, and producer. On the recording, which features a song for each element ("Water," "Fire," "Air," "Earth," and "Ether"), Taimane continues her exploration of natural and metaphysical worlds and successfully weaves several distinct threads (classical, Latin, and ethereal) into a cohesive cloth, one that looks and feels like its unique creator - contemplative, as well as playful and fun.

From Bach to rock, flamenco infernos to tribal hymns, Taimane creates an enthralling experience that uplifts all. Come see the passion, talent, and grace that have garnered Taimane over 8 million video views and a legion of fans worldwide.

Recorded live at Joe's Pub on January 5, 2019.

AROOJ AFTAB, VIJAY IYER & SHAZAD ISMAILY TRIO

Thursday, May 7 at 8:00PM
Access to this stream will bea??FREE and available to all on YouTube

Arooj Aftab is a neo-sufi and minimalist composer/singer who gracefully experiments and bends the lines between ancient mystic poetry, South Asian classical, jazz, soul, and electronic dreamscape music. In 2018, Aftab was named among NPR's 200 Greatest Songs by 21st Century Women, and The New York Time's 25 Best Classical Songs of 2018. Aftab has opened for Mitski at the Brooklyn Steel, and has performed at MoMa's Summer Series and the Brooklyn Museum's First Saturday Series.

Vijay Iyer is an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, producer, electronic musician, and writer based in New York City. He is a 2013 MacArthur Fellow. He became the Franklin D. and Florence Rosenblatt Professor of the Arts at Harvard University in early 2014.

Shahzad Ismaily is a multi-instrumentalist composer, studio owner, and film scorer. Ismaily has recorded and performed with an incredibly diverse assemblage of musicians, including Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed, Tom Waits, and Jolie Holland to name a few.

Recorded live at Joe's Pub on April 28, 2019.

Martha Redbone

Friday, May 8 at 8:00PM
Access to this stream will bea??FREE and available to all on YouTube

In a time when the world is filled with hatred, fear, and division, we want to remind ourselves of love, respect, peace and positivity, and healing. For Martha Redbone's concert during Valentine's week 2019, she offered a night of song celebrating love - self-love, fun love, funky love, love of humankind, love of the land, honoring the earth, ancestors, and our children's children. There's lots to celebrate! Congregate, and sing, with us!

Band line-up:
Aaron Whitby - keys, Musical Director
Fred Cash - bass
Marvin Sewell - guitar
Rocky Bryant - drums
Keith Anthony Fluitt - vocals and more

Recorded live at Joe's Pub on February 12, 2019.

CHEEYANG & KHIYON: EASTBOUND

Saturday, May 9 at 8:00PM
Access to this stream will bea??FREE and available to all on YouTube

"I don't want to just survive. I want to live." Told through the soundscape of a contemporary score amalgamated with traditional Chinese folk music and Mandopop, EASTBOUND is a new bilingual musical about the unexpected meeting of two brothers from opposite sides of the world, their quests for survival, and the power of choice.

Performed by Zachary Noah Piser (Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen, Wicked), Jessica Tyler Wright (Broadway: War Horse, Sweeney Todd, Company), Ya Han Chang, Xiaoqing Zhang, Zachary Infante (Off-Broadway: Alice by Heart; Regional: Kiss My Aztec) and Cheeyang Ng (Tour: Vocalosity).

Book & Music by Cheeyang Ng
Book & Lyrics by Khiyon Hursey
Directed by Desdemona Chiang

Born and raised in Singapore, Cheeyang Ng is an award-winning singer-songwriter who has performed around the world, including Lincoln Center with Carole King and Carnegie Hall with a cappella group Vocalosity. They are the first Singaporean to headline a concert at Joe's Pub and Millennium Stage at Kennedy Center showcasing their original music, and their songs have been performed around New York, including The Duplex and Feinstein's/54 Below. They are a graduate of Berklee College of Music (BMus) and NYU (MFA). Musicals in development include EASTBOUND (Village Theatre Festival of New Musicals, NAMT Writers Grant, NYTB IMPACT Award) with Khiyon Hursey, ONLY US (Drama League Residency) and THE GOLDEN THRESHOLD (Live & In Color) with Eric Sorrels. Select credits include: 2019 ASCAP Foundation Lucille & Jack Yellen Award, 2019 Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, 2019 Prospect Musical Theatre Lab, and 2018 Front and Center with Tom Kitt.

Khiyon Hursey is a writer and composer based in Los Angeles and New York. A 2014 graduate of Berklee College of Music with a degree in Songwriting, he recently finished a stint as a staff writer for Netflix's romantic musical drama, "Soundtrack". He is the recipient of the ASCAP Foundation's Irving Burgie Scholarship, Bart Howard Songwriting Scholarship, a 2016 NAMT Writers Grant, a 2016 - 2017 Dramatists Guild Musical Theater Fellow, 2017 Space on Ryder Farm Residency, 2018 Johnny Mercer Songwriter's Project residency, 2019 ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop with Stephen Schwartz, and the 2019 Rhinebeck Writer's Retreat.

Recorded live at Joe's Pub on January 18, 2020.

SAMORA PINDERHUGHES

Thursday, May 14 at 8:00PM
Access to this stream will be FREE and available to all on YouTube

Samora Pinderhughes is a singer/pianist/activist/composer known for raw, honest, layered multidisciplinary projects. He wrote, produced, and performed on Common's 2019 album, Let Love, and has collaborated with Herbie Hancock, Robert Glasper, Daveed Diggs, MeLo-X, Sara Bareilles, Lalah Hathaway, and Christian Scott, among others. Pinderhughes is the first-ever Art for Justice/Soros Justice Fellow.

Recorded live at Joe's Pub on July 12, 2018.

THE HOT SARDINES

Friday, May 15 at 8:00PM
Access to this stream will bea??FREE and available to all on YouTube

Quality is timeless. Just ask The Hot Sardines.

In the talented hands of the New York-based ensemble, music first made famous decades ago comes alive through their brassy horn arrangements, rollicking piano melodies, and vocals from a chanteuse who transports listeners to a different era with the mere lilt of her voice.

Over the last few years, the Hot Sardines have emerged from the Brooklyn neo-speakeasies where they got their start to make a global name for themselves playing hot jazz as it was in the era when live music was king, bridging generations and captivating 21st-century audiences. The group, led by frontwoman Elizabeth Bougerol and piano player Evan Palazzo, has been described as "potent and assured" (The New York Times) and "simply phenomenal" (The Times of London), notching more than a year on the Billboard Jazz chart and 25 million streams on Spotify (over 90 countries). They've guested on Later... With Jools Holland, NPR's Weekend Edition, CBS Saturday Morning, NPR's Soundcheck, Live at WFUV, and appeared at major jazz festivals including Newport, Montreal, Toronto, London, and Blue Note in Japan in addition to sold-out shows at more than 400 venues worldwide. They've performed their Boston Pops-debuted symphony show with orchestras throughout North America. Their three major albums have landed on best-of lists in the jazz press (Downbeat, JazzTimes) but also crossed over to the mainstream, with Rolling Stone noting that "100-year-old jazz standards get reborn" in the hands of the Hot Sardines.

Recorded live at Joe's Pub on April 26, 2019.

STEPHANIE CHOU: COMFORT GIRL

Saturday, May 16 at 8:00PM
Access to this stream will bea??FREE and available to all on YouTube

Comfort Girl is an exploration - in song and story - of the lives of Chinese 'comfort women,' a cruel euphemism for the women who were abducted and forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during WWII. There were over 200,000 of these young women, most of whom were from China or Korea. Lured by false promises of work or kidnapped - shipped far away from their families - they were kept in terrible conditions. Many died or were killed during the war. The few who survived stayed silent about their horrifying ordeal, because it was seen as shameful, and even considered treason. Comfort Girl is a tribute to these young women and their courage, not only during the War but also afterward - when they returned home to families who didn't always welcome them back with open arms. Their story is still relevant, as survivors continue to fight for justice, and human trafficking remains a major global issue. The music is inspired by true stories survivors have told.

Stephanie Chou - voice, alto saxophone
Orville Mendoza - voice
Andy Lin - erhu, viola, violin
Kelly Lin - piano
Kenny Wollesen - drums, percussion
Peregrine Heard - narration

Recorded live at Joe's Pub on March 29, 2019.

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